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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: land · plane · bat · content · tear · wave · vault · race

  1. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. content — happy
  3. vault — a safe
  4. land — ground
  5. race — a contest
  6. tear — from crying
  7. race — the arms race
  8. plane — a tool
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. bat — the animal
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. tear — from crying
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — the amount
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. race — humankind
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. tear — to rip
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. land — a country
  24. land — to come down

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com